All-Stars take us out to the ballgame

TODAY'S TV

July 12, 1994|By David Bianculli | David Bianculli,Special to The Sun

Except for baseball's All-Star Game, it's hardly an All-Star Night for television. And since the major league baseball players are considering going on strike before the season ends, perhaps disgruntled summertime TV viewers ought to get together and go on strike before the new fall TV season begins.

* "Baseball All-Star Game" (8 p.m.-conclusion, WMAR, Channel 2) -- Lenny Dykstra, although voted in as an All-Star, can't play because of his appendectomy, which pretty much typifies the luck of the Philadelphia Phillies these says. But manager Jim Fregosi has at least one night this season, and it's tonight, to experience the thrill of fielding an entire stadium full of healthy players -- in fact, some pretty terrific players. Of course, the opposing American League team has some guys ready to show up and play ball, too, including Ken Griffey Jr.

One other reason to watch the game: Bob Costas finally gets to get back to play-by-play of his first love, major league baseball. NBC.

* "Roseanne" (9-9:30 p.m., WJZ, Channel 13) -- When "Roseanne" began, the star of the show was named Roseanne Barr. Then she met and married Tom Arnold, and became Roseanne Arnold. Now she's distanced herself from Arnold, the man and the surname, and has told the Emmy folks she wants to be referred to simply and solely as "Roseanne."

This gives her the exact same name as her TV show -- and on this week's notorious (but much-ado-about-very-little) repeat, Roseanne visits a gay bar and gets kissed by a character played by Mariel, Hemingway, that is. ABC repeat.

* "In a Child's Name" (9-11 p.m., WBAL, Channel 11) -- Part 2 of 2. The climax of part one of this thrilling 1991 miniseries was visually stunning, with a blood-residue-seeking chemical turning a seemingly clean rug an ominous and surrealistic glowing green.

It's a taut drama in which district attorneys and forensic specialists use sophisticated tests to try to con- vict a suspect of vTC a brutal murder -- a drama which, creepily, echoes some of the evidence and charges in the recently televised O. J. Simpson preliminary hearing. Valerie Bertinelli stars. CBS repeat.

Cable

* "Biography" (8-9 p.m., A&E) -- If you're interested in the history of manned flight, this hour is the Wright stuff: It's a biography of Orville and Wilbur Wright.